Swimming Lessons
by RandyPandy
Summary: In which Rock drags Quint to the beach and in which Quint learns dealing with yourself can be an interesting process. -Pre-RM8, Summer fic-


A fun fic I wrote for a summer contest over on Deviantart. I don't know how I've done, as the contest hasn't ended yet, but I had fun writing this.

Disclaimer: I don't own Rockman / Megaman and have made no money off of this fic.

* * *

"Absolutely not."

"Come on, it'll be fun!"

Quint frowned as he stared at the earnest young robot in front of him. "I don't do these sort of things, Rock."

Rockman Light, the savior of humanity, placed his hands on Quint's shoulders. "But it'll be fun! How can you not like it when I do?"

"It's complicated-"

"In other words, you have no good reason right?" Quint had to concede to that. "Pleeeeease?" Rock leaned forward into Quint's face and stared at his older self with wide, pleading eyes.

"...You of all people should know that the eyes will not work on me." Quint turned away from those eyes, trying not to look at them. He'd used them way too often to know that his younger self was using them on purpose.

"..." Rock just kept staring at him as Quint finally peeked a glance at the younger robot and immediately fell victim.

"Fine, you win. Tomorrow, then. I'll meet you at ho- the lab."

"Yay!" And with those words said, Rock embraced Quint and bounded off through Symphony City, heading back home for Dr. Light's laboratory. Quint, for his part, just watched the boy run off, shaking his head as he walked back inside the fortune-telling shop that he lived in.

A red, Mechaniloid pogostick was waiting for him, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'm not going to be home, tomorrow, Saku," Quint said to the pogostick. "Rock saw to that." He then groaned, hiding his face in his hands. "What is the world coming to when you're vulnerable to your own eyes?"

Sakugarne just stared at him, blinking, as Quint flipped the 'CLOSED' sign and began cleaning up the shop.

* * *

That was how, the very next afternoon, Quint found himself tailing after Dr. Light, Rock, and Roll as they made their way to the beach, carrying an enormous picnic basket and a green towel draped over his arm while the others carried other things such as umbrellas, beach towels, and such. The beach wasn't very crowded, but Quint found himself practically on Dr. Light's heels as the small party of four found a small space and set their items down. He glanced around again at the outfits that his "family" was wearing.

Roll seemed all decked out for the beach. She had changed her normal green hair ribbon for a blue one, and was wearing a red spaghetti strap swimsuit top, white swimsuit shorts, white sandals, and had a pair of sunglasses resting on her head as she balanced the red beach umbrella on her shoulder.

Rock had opted for something simple, wearing a light blue sleeveless top and a pair of dark blue shorts with sandals. Quint was wearing the exact same thing, except that they were two shades of green.

Dr. Light had gotten rid of his lab coat for the moment and was wearing a orange-red button-down shirt with khaki shorts, sunglasses, and sandals. Even now, Quint couldn't stop himself from staring at his creator; it was so unusual to see him in anything besides his lab coat.

All in all, to outsiders, the group looked just like a man and his grandkids out for a fun-filled and relaxing day at the beach.

Setting up the umbrella and the beach towel on the spot that they had claimed, Dr. Light sat down as Rock and Roll bounded off to play in the sand, dragging along several plastic buckets and shovels. The green robot hesitated a bit, before kicking off his sandals and dropping down on the towel next to Dr. Light, watching the other two play as he put his hands on his knees.

"...Quint?" He heard the familiar, warm voice of his creator ask him. "I'm curious; why did you choose to come along? Rock was babbling happily all last night and this morning that you were coming along for once." A hand reached out and petted the robot's hair.

Quint unconsciously closed his eyes and leaned into the touch; he liked being petted like that. "I fell victim to one of the very things I used to persuade people with - my eyes."

Dr. Light chuckled, ruffling his hair as he pulled out a magazine. "Be careful what you do, son." The man sighed, stopping his affectionate actions towards Quint. "It might just backfire on you." He paused. "Though I suppose..." He trailed off, looking away and opening his magazine.

"...Yeah," Quint said quietly, opening his eyes and looking over at Rock as the other built a sandcastle with Roll. How many people knew that what they did would affect them nearly forty years later, and how many people knew exactly how they were going to die? Just him and Rock (and they were technically the same person), but... Quint still wished, at times, that he could go back to those days, when he was blissfully ignorant of such things.

He curled up on the beach towel, closing his eyes as he rested his head on his hands. He felt Dr. Light pat his head again, and he dozed off to sleep.

* * *

The moment a light blue shirt smacked him in the face, Quint woke up, pulling the shirt off, blinking at it, and glancing over at his younger self even as he heard Dr. Light scold, "Rock!"

"Stop napping!" Rock said, tugging on his older self's arms. Quint jerked his arms out of Rock's grip and dropped back down on the blanket. "I didn't make you come here to nap!"

Groaning, Quint finally sat up, hair all mussed up as he frowned at Rock. "'Least let me wake up..." He mumbled. He had been completely asleep.

"..." Grabbing his arms, Rock pulled Quint with him, the other stumbling afterwards, before abruptly shoving him into the ocean water.

"Gyaaah!" Quint yelped as the cold ocean water completely woke him up. Rock began laughing so hard that he fell to the ground, rolling on the sand. The older robot glared at him, pulling his wet shirt off and throwing it in the direction of Dr. Light before yanking Rock into the water with him. Rock squealed as he fell into the water, before surfacing.

"..." The two robot boys, looking very much like a pair of wet cats, blinked at each other before starting to laugh together.

Quint quickly dunked Rock's head in the water before swimming away from the other as Rock resurfaced and stared at his older self, who was paddling the water to remain afloat. "You can swim?"

"Mmhmm," Quint replied, lazily swimming a circle around Rock.

"...I can't," Rock said. "When do I learn?"

Quint paused in his laps around Rock, looking thoughtful. "Now, actually." Grabbing Rock's arms, he set the boy so that he was floating from the buoyancy of the water, holding from underneath.

"This feels funny," Rock said, wiggling his legs a bit and squirming as Quint held him.

"It's not so hard," Quint replied. "Just remember to relax and let the water hold you. It's easier for us than most humans because we can breathe water and don't need to worry about breathing as much. Now, kick your legs. Make sure to do it hard enough to break the surface of the water."

Rock kicked his legs, floundering helplessly in the water. As he began to sink, he yelped and hugged Quint tightly, trying to use his older self as a buoy of sorts.

"Rock, you need to relax and lie flat on the water," Quint said, pulling the younger robot off of him and putting him back in he previous position.

"I'm sorry," Rock said. "I'm not too good at this, am I?"

Quint shook his head, smiling. "You're frustrated, I know. It's not easy, and I know you're really trying."

Kicking his legs again, this time doing much better than before, Rock looked up at Quint. "What about you?"

"Sorry?" Quint said, closing one eye as water splashed onto his face.

"How did you learn how to swim?"

The green robot just winked. "I taught myself."

* * *

"How cute!" Roll giggled, sitting under the beach umbrella.

Dr. Light looked up from his magazine. "What is it, Roll?"

In response, Roll just pointed towards the two robot boys in the water. "Quint's teaching Rock how to swim!"

The scientist watched Quint and Rock for a moment, chuckling as Rock clung to Quint as if he were a life buoy. "This brings a whole new meaning to teaching yourself."

* * *

After the two robots finally dragged themselves out of the water and ate the picnic dinner that Roll had packed, they noticed that the sun was finally going down so they decided to go home. As soon as everything was packed in the car, they were finally headed home.

Dr. Light was driving, with Roll sitting in the front seat. Quint and Rock were in the back. Quint was sitting by the window, gazing out at the scenery, when he felt a sudden weight in his lap. "Eh?"

"..." Rock didn't respond, closing his eyes and mumbling to himself as he fell asleep on Quint.

"Everything okay back there?" Dr. Light asked, not taking his eyes off the road.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Rock just fell asleep," Quint replied, placing his hand on Rock's head. The sleeping robot nuzzled Quint's hand and buried his face against the other, appearing to be quite comfortable where he was.

Quint was both amused and embarrassed. He was highly amused at how, well, cute Rock was while he was asleep, and embarrassed at the fact that he had apparently done the exact same thing when he was a kid.

When the car finally stopped, Rock was still asleep. Seeing that he wasn't going to get away that night, Quint carefully picked Rock up and carried him into the house behind Dr. Light and Roll. Rock mumbled a bit and tightened his grip on Quint, and the green robot had to smile a bit.

"Should I just put him in my - his - room?" he asked Dr. Light.

"That would be good," the scientist replied, putting the sunglasses down. "I don't have the heart to wake him up right now, anyways."

"I'm going to sleep myself after a shower," Roll said, turning towards Quint. "What about you?"

"I'll probably be heading back to the shop," he replied. "Saku's probably wondering where I am."

"Oh..." He nearly winced when he heard the disappointment in her voice. "Well... good night, then."

"Night, sis," he said, carefully climbing the steps, still carrying Rock. Presently, he found his way to Rock's room, opening the door and nearly being bowled over by the memories. He fondly examined the photo sitting on his nightstand of the entire Light family, including the first six Robot Masters, Auto, and the pets. Even Blues was present. However, the photo had vanished one day and he had never found it, though he thought he knew what happened to it.

He gave the photo an affectionate stroke before walking over to the bed and carefully placing Rock on it. As he turned to walk out of the room, Rock's arm shot out and grabbed him, pulling him towards the other. A quick check showed that Rock was still asleep; however, try as Quint might, he couldn't seem to release his younger self's grip on his arm.

...And he was feeling a bit sleepy himself. So with a sigh, Quint settled down next to him on the bed, his arm being hugged by the other robot. "Goodnight, Rock," he murmured, knowing he wasn't going to get away that night. He tucked Rock's head under his chin and closed his eyes.

The next morning, Rock woke up alone, though with the feeling he hadn't been by himself all night. When he glanced over at his nightstand, the photo of his family was gone.

* * *

Author's Notes:

The reason I said this takes place before Rockman 8 is because I noticed that Rock can swim a bit in that game, but not before (I don't count the PC games as canon). It may have been due to limitations, but I just ran with the idea he couldn't swim before then.

Another thing is that Roll's outfit in this fic is her "Vacation Roll" costume from Rockman Rockman.


End file.
